


Rust In My Own Blood

by Gothams_Only_Wolf



Series: Under The Wing of A Nibel Dragon [8]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Canon Meets Alternate Universe, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Nibel Verse, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-06-20 04:26:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15526011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothams_Only_Wolf/pseuds/Gothams_Only_Wolf
Summary: ShinRa's strongest SOLDIER endures a future that was nearly his; a memory finds out what effect a cast iron frying pan has on the world.





	1. Everything Changes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kuruasu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuruasu/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  ** _CAVEAT: If you haven't read the series Under the Wing of a Nibel Dragon, this makes ZERO sense. It also contains spoilers for the Nibel series as a whole._**
> 
> I mentioned way back in Vol. I of Of Courage that I had a fic in mind where Nibel!Seph and Canon!Seph swapped places. This is that fic! 
> 
> Enjoy with caution~

* * *

While clearing out Fort Yumi in Wutai, Sephiroth paused before a set of double doors that were ornately done. The words carved into the door were interesting, done in regular Wutainese as opposed to Imperial, which was the language of choice for inscriptions. It was also at his eye level, meaning that someone near his age must have done it years ago.

_Within this room lies future in wait_

_Take heed of its warning_

_Or be lost to its Fate_

He checked to see if his PHS had a signal, that he could send it to his Chichiue, but the bars were empty; not Emergency as it tended to be in most areas of Wutai but completely blank.

Sephiroth's hand hovered over the door. The silence of the Fort was nearly deafening so he stepped back when the hairs on the back of his neck rose, wary and ready to draw Masamune. 

Someone shoved against his back, hard and with enough force to send him forward. 

Sephiroth saw only violet eyes as he hit the double doors and disappeared with a yelp.

* * *

Sephiroth's back impacted against rough earth, the scent of charcoal most prevalent in the air. He sat up, the area familiar if somewhat overgrown. This was the Fort but—

The script flashed before his eyes again, the first line making awful sense now. 

The Fort had been razed to the ground by a high-powered Fira, cut to the very stone by... Masamune? No, there was no mistaking that particular cut. His blade had done this, years ago, by the looks of it. 

Everything around him was only starting to grow back, the stone blackened and melted and... Was this really his future? He scrambled for his PHS, surprised to find it had full bars. He checked the date, as PHSs automatically updated when entering a new service area, glad that he'd already been sitting down. 

The date was the same— _fifteen years into the future_.

* * *

One by one, he called the numbers, only to hear that they'd been disconnected or transferred. The only one that answered was Director Tuesti, sounding tired and distant. 

"Director Tuesti, of the WRO, may I ask who's calling?" 

"Captain Strife-Valentine, sir." He answered by rote, happy to have at least one familiar thing in this place. 

"I don't know _anyone_ by that name." The coldness of the tone made him flinch but then his heart sank even further at, "I don't think Valentine or Strife would appreciate the appropriation of thier names. Who are you really?" 

"You... Nevermind, sir, I appear to have the wrong number." He hung up, hearing his Chichiue chiding him for bad manners as he heaved in deep breaths. Before he knew it, his PHS lit up again, Director Tuesti's number on the screen. "Captain Strife-Valentine speaking, sir." 

"My apologies for being so harsh, Captain. You sound familiar, I'm afraid, and a little too much like someone I'd only met twice. May I know your given name?" 

"It's Sephiroth." 

Director Tuesti inhaled sharply at his name but asked, "Where are you now, Captain?" 

"In the burnt-out husk of what looks like Fort Yumi in Wutai, sir. I'm... I'm a little displaced, sir, and you're the only one who answered their PHS." Sephiroth answered frankly. 

Chichiue said it was best that Sephiroth be honest in situations he didn't know the outcome of in advance. 

"... I see. I'll have someone come pick you up in... about an hour. Is that alright, Captain?" Director Tuesti murmured.

"Yes sir. I can await extraction here, sir, I have camping supplies and a Tent." 

"That's... You're well prepared, Captain. See you in an hour."

* * *

Sephiroth peeled off his gloves and dug his hands into the soil, digging for the feeling of the LifeStream he knew ran in a strong current under Wutai. He found it, terrified as it turned on him with force. Sephiroth yelped and braced for a lot of pain when the 'Stream gentled beneath his touch, a flicker of apology brushing his extra senses. 

"I'm not going to hurt you, I'm trying to figure out what happened." He told it, running Ifalna's lessons through his mind to calm them both. 

The LifeStream burbled at that, a soft nudge for him to look deeper in the 'Stream here. 

He watched in horror as the battle raged and he, well, he razed the Fort and the villages beyond with a furious swipe of Masamune, his eyes cold and blank and painful to see. 

It was like looking into a mirror at the age of ten and deciding that the world wasn't worth it anymore. 

Had he really been so hopeless once? 

"Is... Is that my future? Even with help?" Sephiroth asked, his voice cracking from the pain of seeing innocent people burning, of knowing how they felt through the 'Stream. Tears streaked down his face, as he was unable and unwilling to wipe them away. "Am I supposed to be a monster? Live up to Hojo's...?" His throat nearly closed at the thought that Hojo had been right; that he was a weapon. That he was made for destruction and death and—

 _No, I don't think so._ Sephiroth whipped his head to the side at Ifalna's voice. _You, my dear, have support. This one had no one but himself and the dragon dung for a long time. By the time others found their way in, it was too late. He believed the words coming out of Hojo's mouth; you don't and that makes all the difference. Well... That and a seasoned cast iron frying pan._

Sephiroth laughed wetly at that, the image of the warped frying pan one he cherished. "Mom said it was totally worth it." The thought occurred to him then, "Hojo didn't die when I was eleven, did he?" 

_I'm afraid not, little nephew. The Strifes stayed in Nibelheim. I can tell you no more; the rest has to come from someone who lived this. You will see some familiar faces but I'm afraid none will see you as you are, only what you look like._ Ifalna sighed. 

"They'll see this me, the one who killed..." 

_Until you do something to refute their views, then yes._ She admitted. _This is something he couldn't do; the LifeStream requires more than blood to communicate and no one was able to teach him how to focus._

"What can you tell me?" 

_I have told you all I can, little cousin, and your ride awaits above. I'm sorry I cannot help you more._ Ifalna sighed, dispersing in glowing green particles of LifeStream. 

Sephiroth's head snapped up as he heard a massive set of engines. He pulled his hands out of the dirt, wiped his hands down with towelettes and cleaned his face quickly. Sephiroth packed everything up and stood at attention as the ship landed. 

Director Tuesti stepped out, grey streaking his hair and beard. Sephiroth didn't know whether to salute or not when Uncle Cid followed him down the ramp. 

He chewed the inside of his cheek instead of breaking his stance to hug his Uncle. 

Both of them looked at him, looked at each other and then Uncle Cid leveled the Venus Gospel at him. Sephiroth broke his attention stance, realizing that neither of these men knew him—that they only knew the killer that wore his face. 

He held up his hands in surrender, his heart sore and heavy. This future was one Sephiroth would strive to avoid, should he make it out of the situation. 

"Reeve, ya sure picked a hell of a day to tell me there's a mini clone." 

"I'm _not_ a clone." He blurted, offended by that. Chichiue had told him that there were clones of him but none had lived past their tenth birthday. "Chichiue said that I was the only one to survive Hojo's mechanations." 

"... Well that is news." Director Tuesti drawled. "Your Chichiue, what is his name?" 

"Vincent Valentine, Sharpshooter of the Turks, currently semi-retired." 

"And yer Mom?" 

"Anika Strife, Head of ShinRa's Kitchen Department." 

Both of thier jaws dropped at that, the Venus Gospel lowered immediately. 

"An' who am Ah to you?" 

"Captain Cid Highwind, my honorary Uncle." Cid's eyes widened until the whites were huge and his eyebrows rose to his googles. "Director Tuesti is still Director Tuesti of the Urban Development Department of ShinRa." 

"What of... What of Hojo? Or Hollander?" Director Tuesti questioned, his gaze on the edge of an epiphany. 

"My Mom killed Hojo because he tried to take my little brother, Cloud, and she did it with her best cast iron frying pan. Hollander fled to avoid the same fate, though Director Veld has him pinned somewhere in Corel right now. What?" 

"Cloud... You said he was your little brother?!" Cid yelped. 

Sephiroth dug for his PHS, flicked through the pictures and turned the screen to Director Tuesti and Cid to show them Cloud practicing with his knife. "Has been for about four years; what else would he be?" 

"Oh my Ramuh. When you said displaced, you certainly meant it." Director Tuesti's eyes rolled back and he fell, Sephiroth catching him before Cid could even move. 

"Sir? Oh Bahamut's balls." Sephiroth swore, pulling smelling salts from his side pocket and waving them under the Director's nose. "Wake up please." 

Director Tuetsi groaned and then groaned again, only this time in understanding. "You handle this, Cid, this has AVALANCHE written all over it." 

"What's your name, aside from... Y'know." 

"Strife-Valentine." 

"... Well, this is a pile of Chocobo shit, now ain't it?" 

"There's nothing I can do about it other than tell you I'm not Him. I don't raze entire villages in Wutai, I'm not a heartless killer and I'd stab myself first before I stabbed my little brother." Seph sighed, setting the Director upright. "Even the one that lives here and who might stab me first." 

"How th' in the name of Shiva's tits do you know any of that?" Cid asked as they climbed aboard the ship. 

"The LifeStream told me." 

"Th' LifeStream." The flat tone had him sighing. 

"I'm part Cetra." 

"Now I done heard it all." 

"I'm related to Ifalna Faramis through my Mother, Lucrecia Crescent," Sephiroth explained quietly as he buckled in. Director Tuesti's still looking a little pale but nothing could be done about that currently. A Cure would only cause him to vomit, the way he was now. 

"Yeah, Ah'm gonna need to stop dropping info like that so Ah c'n fly, kid." Cid snorted as he started up the engines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, complain, ect.


	2. The Edge of Midgar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mentions canon deaths and events

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Nibel!Seph is just not having a good time this chapter! There are a lot of feels so brace yourselves. 
> 
> Enjoy with caution~

* * *

Midgar was in ruins. 

Sephiroth's jaw worked as he saw Sector Five was safe, the church still standing along with many of the structures but the rest... Gone was the flower shop Dyne ran in Eight, gone was the spice market in Six and it looked as though Seven—

It looked as though someone had dropped Sector Seven, Plate and all, down upon it's residents. 

"What happened...?" 

"You. Well, not you, kid but-" 

"I know. What's the city's name?" 

"Edge." 

"... It suits." He replied, the constant construction eerily similar to Midgar's Plate. "Where are we going?" 

"Seventh Heaven; it's a bar where AVALANCHE meets-" 

"AVALANCHE? As in the ecoterrorist group that turns SOLDIERs into monsters?" 

"Well, I guess AVALANCHE's got a dirty history too but not anymore. You could say we're version 2.0 an' we actually liked the Planet and her people. There's eight of us, nine if ya count that one's talking cat—" 

"Excuse me, Cait Sith is not _just_ a talking cat, he's—" 

"... an incredibly advanced AI and all you had on hand was a child's toy." Sephiroth finished and both of them whipped around to look at him in surprise. "Captain, the ship, if you please. Cait Sith I know; I spent a great deal of time with him in exchange for an agreement between Director Tuesti and I." 

"Ah guess ya know a lot of us, then," Captain Highwind murmured. "Ah think this is as weird for you as it is for us." 

"I've never had Venus Gospel aimed at me before." He volunteered with a shakey smile. 

"Aww Hel, Ah'm still sorry about that." Captain Highwind muttered. "Ah c'n feel you puttin' a Captain in front of my name an' Ah need you to stop." 

"That stays the same." Sephiroth replied softly. "Though you're missing your cigs." 

"Missin—Ha! Ah knew it. Been tryin' to quit, kid, for Shera's sake an' my own health." 

"Shera?" 

"Huh. She's my assistant. We were in the ShinRa Space Program together?" 

"ShinRa's Space Program has been shut down for most of my life. There was a panelling issue before launch and—" 

"They shut it down earlier than here. Almost died goin' up in that thing, y'know." 

Sephiroth sat back in shock. "You went up in a malfunctioning spacecraft?!" 

"Didn't know it at the time," came the rejoinder, "an' didn't discover it until we were already in space." 

"Oh." 

"Yeah, ya look like everyone else does when we tell them that bit. We're here kid. Stay here." 

"Yes Captain." 

"Cid." 

"Captain. I would rather not be familiar with someone I don't know." 

"... Alright, that's fair."

* * *

Sephiroth hid in the rafters of the ship, his old habits coming back to him in this unfamiliar place. 

"Kid? You still here?" 

"Yes Captain." 

"Where...? Huh. You really must be his kid, hanging out up there like he does. Ah brought Vince an' Nanaki, since Cloud is out an' Teef's doing inventory. You c'n come on down, seein' as how these two think b'fore they act." Captain Highwind offered dryly. 

Sephiroth dropped, tucked himself into a somersault and then tapped his bootip against the metal grating of the airship in order to disperse the energy he generated. 

Familar crimson eyes raked over him, calculating but not cruel. An equally familiar blue gaze looked him over with curiosity, though set far lower to the ground. 

All Sephiroth wanted to do was hug the man that _looked_ like his Chichiue but just tightened his hands into fists instead, flexing his left after the fact. 

"... Cid, I had hoped you were joking." 

"'Fraid not, Vince. This here is..." Captain Highwind gave him a go-on motion. 

"Captain Sephiroth Strife-Valentine of ShinRa Electric, stationed in Wutai... Or I was until a few hours ago." He volunteered easily enough but then hesitated. "One moment, I was clearing Fort Yumi and the next, in ruins that were an approximate of the Fort I had just entered." Sephiroth sat down, looked at Nanaki's glorious mane and murmured, "I guess your mane grew in just fine." 

The Firewolf blinked at that, sitting down as well but what passed for a smile crossed Nanaki's leonine face. "I take it you've met my Mother as well?" 

They said it in unison, Sephiroth's laughter a little hysterical but a relief nonetheless. "'Eat your meat, don't talk to too many strangers and don't ask questions that don't have answers!'" 

Nanaki chuckled and replied, "You are not what Cloud described to me once. You are warm where He was cold, human and flawed where He was inhumanly perfect." 

"I also have my Chichiue, my Mom, Ms. Ifalna, Cloud, my friends—'Geal and Gen and Zack— and the support of my superiors. I know that my Mother gave me up unwillingly. I had the love of Fenris Strife, even if all I have are memories of a golden-haired man and games." Sephiroth sighed, shaking his head at the uncomfortable memory of deadened green eyes. "Hojo is no longer a part of my life—" 

Valentine knelt in front of him, crimson eyes blazing. "What did you say about Hojo?" 

"As I told the Captain, my Mom ruined her best cast iron pan when Hojo tried to 'disappear' my little brother. The Turks put it down to a slip in the kitchen." He snorted dryly. "I have pictures." 

Sephiroth pulled his PHS out of his pocket slowly, aware that any sudden moves might result in something bad happening. He flipped it open, scrolled past the photo of Cloud practicing kata and then turned it around. 

Valentine's boots scraped against the grating as he stood. Oh, right, that was the picture Chichue had appeared in. 

"Is your Father...?" 

"Yes. He woke up shortly after my eleventh birthday, thanks to Ms. Ifalna." 

"Who is this 'Ms. Ifalna' you keep referring to, kid?" 

"Use Seph if you're going to shorten my name, please, Captain." He absently corrected. "Ms. Ifalna's my teacher." 

"Teacher for what, Seph?" Nanaki asked. 

"How to talk to the Planet." 

"... Are you referring to Ifalna Faramis?" Director Tuesti suddenly sounded every one of his years. 

"Yeah, Aerith's Mom and my Aunt." 

The sudden flinch at his cousin's name made his blood run cold. 

"Oh." The image was brief, Masamune sticking out from behind the pink ribbon he and Zack had gotten his cousin when he'd turned fourteen to her eight, but it was more than enough. " _OH._ " 

Sephiroth didn't stop the tears that sprang up, didn't want to as he grieved for the loss of her. 

"He deserved-hic!-his fate, that... that _memory_." Sephiroth hissed out, his heart already sore from the loss at Fort Yumi. No wonder the LifeStream had attacked him at first; killing Aerith had to be only the tip of his future self's crimes against the Planet. "I want... I want to go _home_ , by Bahamut's mercy." 

"Home?" 

"Where none of you are strangers and I can hug my Chichiue and my Mom and my friends—" A flare of Angeal dying, of Genesis suffering the same fate before Sephiroth shoved at the LifeStream beneath his feet. "No more. **_Please._** " 

The LifeStream drifted around him, coalescing into Ifalna and Sephiroth buried his face against her shoulder. _I am sorry, dear one, but the 'Stream has had no one for many a year aside from my daughter._

"That her?" Captain Highwind's voice softened as he got closer to Sephiroth. 

"Yeah." He answered in a tiny voice. 

"C'mere, Seph. You may look like th' General but you damned sure aren't him. Yer Ma 'n Pop are raising ya real well." Sephiroth shuffled a bit, looked at Ifalna and she gave an accepting nod. He hugged Cid, inhaling the remnants of tobacco in the grease-stained white shirt. "... You said she was your cousin?" 

"Only recently found that out through Grandma Lily." 

"Lily? As in... your Mother's Mother?" Valentine questioned. 

"Lily Crescent, Lucrecia Crescent-Valentine and Ifalna Faramis née Crescent are all that remains of the Cetra bloodline. Now Aer and I are another generation but hopefully not the last." Sephiroth recited from memory. "Grandma Lily says it's better when there's two." 

"... I see. You appear to know about your Mother, at least." Valentine murmured. 

"I know Dr. Crescent was flawed and human. Mom too and Ms. Ifalna says that's okay. Mistakes help you learn, even if they suck." He huffed out against Cid's shoulder. "I hate to ask but... this Cloud... would he really stab me?" 

"More likely than ya think, Seph. You want a Barrier or somethin'?" 

Sephiroth gave a wet snort as he pointed out, "The LifeStream will react faster than any Materia, nevermind the fact that I'm beyond a SOLDIER First."

* * *

Sephiroth let the first sword hit him, the sting of the cut making him flinch. 

Cloud's expression was unreadable, even up close, and Sephiroth wanted nothing more than his Cloud, the one that hugged his waist and played tag and—

He dodged increasingly powerful hits, twisting his body and jumping along old buildings as Cloud chased. 

"I thought I told you to stay in my memories." 

Fed-up after nearly twenty minutes, Sephiroth snarled in Nibel, «I'm _not_ Him. I have a Father, I have a Mother and my little brother is **you**. I would stab myself before I stabbed my cousin because we're the only ones who can hear the Planet crying!» 

Cloud fell back at that, his boot sliding on a metal pole that snapped under Cloud's weight. 

Sephiroth lunged after Cloud, kicking off of the buildings with his Limit Break in order to catch his grown-up little brother. The grip he had was solid as he held Cloud off the ground. If it so happened to be away from the pit of metal piping that had shattered, turning it into a pit of spears instead, well then so be it. 

«He wouldn't save you from getting hurt either, would He?» 

Cloud's grip on his wrist caused the bones to creak but still he held on. «He... He never knew my native tongue.» 

«He's also not fifteen and stationed in Wutai, now is He?» Sephiroth asked dryly as he hefted Cloud up to sit on the balcony he'd been balancing from. 

Cloud looked at him, _really looked_ , and then blinked. «You're fifteen?»

«Had a birthday in the field; Mom made me a ration cake.»

«Didn't know you had a Mom.» came the reply. 

«We share one.» Sephiroth slowly pulled out his PHS and flicked to his thirteenth birthday. Mom was laughing at something Uncle Cid had said, Chichiue in the background with laughter in his crimson gaze. 

«... Cid wasn't joking when he said you were displaced then.»

«Captain Highwind's not a liar so why wouldn't you believe him?» Sephiroth prodded as he kicked his feet at the edge. 

«We've had more than enough Reunions and memories floating around, I think.» Cloud murmured, his grip on the balcony crumbling its edges a little. «It happened less than two years ago here. One of them transformed into the memory.» 

«You'd rather be safe than sorry. You're more paranoid than my Chichiue,» came his reply. «and he's a Turk.» 

This Cloud snorted and asked, wistfully, «How's Ma anyway?»

«Missing Papa Fenris and dating my Aunt. Frankly, Chichiue and Uncle Cid need to kiss before they break something with what my commanders call U-S-T. They won't explain what it is though.» Sephiroth responded easily. 

«You're not old enough,» came the dry rejoinder. 

«I guess so.» 

«Wait, you have an Aunt?»

«Ifalna Faramis.» he offered warily. 

«Have you...»

«I would never harm her. I just... _I bought her that ribbon last year._ She's my sister by blood and by heart. How could he do that to her?! To _**family**_ when I know he felt her!» Sephiroth nearly choked on his last words, this time swiping at the frustrated tears that fell. 

This almost felt like a rotten nightmare but he could feel the bruises Cloud's grip left on his hand and the dried salt from crying earlier. 

Cloud gave a long sigh and slung an arm over Sephiroth's shaking shoulders. «Cid was right, this is shitty. Do you remember the poem?» 

" _Within this room lies future in wait/Take heed of its warning/Or be lost to its Fate_." He recited as he leaned against Cloud and let down his guard for the first time that day. 

Sephiroth slept deeply as Cloud took him in, wincing as he spotted the already healed cut and the drying blood streaked from tears. "... Maybe you have something to teach me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, complain, ect.


	3. The Source of Defiance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Augh, this right here is why I stick to AUs! I had to rewrite this so many times because I kept making Canon!Seph too _nice_. 
> 
> I'm pretty certain he actually needs to be worse but I'm tossing the chapter up anyway! 
> 
> Enjoy?

* * *

Sephiroth slammed onto a wooden floor that smelt distinctly of Wutai's island cedar. He sought out JENOVA, his Mother, and found her blocked. 

Only one being was cabable of such a thing; Cetra and a great deal more powerful than the one that had Summoned Holy. 

He rolled onto his hands and knees, dry heaving at the dulled wrath from Mother as she felt him. Never before had She been so _angry_... Part of him was glad for the distance and the Cetra, the part he mentally stabbed with Masamune.

Sephiroth snapped open his eyes and found a poem engraved on the door in Wutainese which was not in Imperial.

_Without will be to future's chagrin_

_A look into another past_

_A hope for what might have been_

Sephiroth sneered at the writing, weaving to his feet as he drew Masamune to destroy it. Right as he swung the blade forward, he heard the quiet click of Turk-issued boots.

One of his enemies, the one who had looked so anguished to kill him during that last battle, halted abruptly. 

"Your Aunt said—" Crimson flicked over Sephiroth's coat, flicked to Masamune, flicked to the door and then the man cursed soundly in Wutainese for a solid minute. "You are not _my_ son, though you look enough like him to pass. Do you know where you are?" 

Sephiroth gave a brief sniff, scenting the place dismissively and spat out, "Fort Yumi, which I burned years ago." 

The crimson gaze bled into molten gold, his expression one of disgust. "JENOVA's true spawn and not our son, as my Host stated. You would do well to resume inspecting the fort and not burning it down. If you know where we are, you certainly know why we are here and I refuse to have our son's reputation shattered by your ill-timed arrival." 

Sephiroth knew that this one, whatever he was, wasn't to be tested with JENOVA barricaded by Cetra. An enemy that matched Cloud, a true equal in strength of will and in enhancements. 

He knew the Fort, though it had been some fifteen years, and offered cuttingly, "There will be a squadron of citizen soldiers at the end of this maze. I take it I'm not supposed to kill them." 

"Get them to surrender if you can, immobilize them if you cannot." came the response as the gold faded and the solemn crimson returned. "I suggest you follow my lead. Do not speak to anyone else aside from myself and those I will introduce you to at a later point." 

"My Wutainese is reasonable in both dialects. Will this suffice?" He continued as he swept the rooms with a Libra equipped. 

"... It'll have to do. Do you know the word for father?" 

"Formal or archaic." Sephiroth said flatly. 

"Archaic, if you wouldn't mind." 

"I know it well enough." He knew where this was heading and didn't appreciate the sentiment. 

"Good. You'll need to use it." 

Claim this man as his Father? Really now... 

"I take it Hojo lived, in your place," The half-question, half-order pulled a sneer from him. 

"Right until he was shot by a gun very similar to that one." Sephioth allowed quietly as he stalked forward, sending Masamune back into the ether. 

"He died here, four years ago this week." 

"Who would have the...?" 

"Gall to do so? A very angry mother by the name of Strife. You see, Hojo thought to 'disappear' her six-year old son—" 

"Cloud Strife." Would he not escape the Puppet, even here?

"I take it by your tone, you don't get along with your Cloud." came the censured remark.

"He's killed me three times now. It figures that a Strife was the doom of my former guardian." Sephiroth informed the man. 

"Ah. Here he is ten, smarter than his first impression and he will know you are not his brother. You'll need to watch your shins." 'Chichiue's' snort was amused. 

"... Why my shins?" He prodded. 

"He's got a kick to rival the Chocobo people are forever comparing him to," His enemy quipped dryly.

* * *

Sephiroth didn't fear for his shins nor any other body part. He was a god among—

The foot that smashed into his shin was the least of his problems as a second one followed on his other shin; he should have listened. 

"You're," 

Kick. 

"not," 

Kick. 

" _my_ brother!" 

Sephiroth snarled at the last strike. He reached for Masamune in the ether, ready to cut down the tiny, ferocious whirlwind when he felt the cold edges of barrels at the base of his spine. 

"Think wisely on your next move, _son_." The crimson-caped enemy reminded him silkily. "You're not in the Promised Land anymore." 

"No, I'm not your brother and I will not tolerate such abuse against my person." Sephiroth picked the little boy up by his shoulders and hissed lowly, "Kick me again, little wretch, and you'll find yourself in likeness with a Wutainese kebab. You may count yourself lucky I'm not allowed to kill you." 

This Cloud stared back, equally as defiant as his counterpart, blue eyes still challenging him with no Mako in them at all. 

What was it about Cloud Strife, _any_ Cloud Strife, that made him so fearless in the face of danger? 

"Put. My. Son. Down." Sephiroth knew that tone intimately, though it had never had such a feminine pitch to it. " _Now._ " 

The last word was as terrifying as a nesting Nibel Dragon, the harsh snarl inducing his fight mode. He lowered Strife, let him go and slowly turned around. 

Here was the cause, the defiance given a form and a name all in the same breath. "Mama!" 

The high-caliber hunting rifle was sighted directly between his eyes, never wavering as Cloud clung to a green gingham skirt. 

Fierce azure met scornful jade, the look cursory enough that Sephiroth somehow felt cheated, "... So this is what you meant, Vincent." 

"Our son but not our son, corrupted by JENOVA entirely—" 

"Mother said this Planet was my vessel, a ship in which to sail amongst the cosmos and we keep getting thwarted by _your blood son_." Sephiroth growled lowly, his wing snapping out into the sudden silence. "Cloud Strife, no matter where he is, remains defiant of Mother and I. He should be a Puppet but he isn't and somehow it is _you_ I hear when he fights me." 

"Then I guess I raised him right." came the quiet, resilient answer. "For the time being, JENOVA's spawn or no, you lay a hand on my Cloud again and you'll find out _**exactly**_ how Hojo died." 

"... As you say, Strife." 

"It's 'Mom' to you. Tuck that wing away and follow me." 'Mom' commanded. 

Sephiroth begrudgingly followed, not willing to die at the hands of yet another Strife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, complain, ect.


	4. Support System Loss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, I haven't updated Nibel verse in forever but I'm getting back into the swing of it again thanks to some wonderful readers! 
> 
> A note: Canon!Seph is aware that Vincent can and will kill him if he gets out of line. JENOVA is also blocked by two living Cetra (Ifalna and Lucrecia) and unconsciously by Aerith, who is mimicking her Mom. 
> 
> It is also canon that Sephiroth and Ifalna were "imprisoned" together along with Aerith. They probably knew each other quite well before Ifalna made her escape attempt.

* * *

As he expected, Angeal and Genesis barged into his personal tent shy of his arrival by half an hour. 

"Huh. Good to know that Seph does grow _up_ eventually." Genesis murmured. 

"Gen..." Angeal warned, the interaction familiar enough to induce a pang in his chest. It was followed, irrationally, by a flare of anger and betrayal, though it had been years—

Sephiroth growled lowly as he stood, driven to his feet by the emotions coursing through him. "Get out." 

Genesis's eye twitched and then Angeal calmed him with a gesture. "We can't get out. Mr. Valentine said we had to keep up—" 

"A lie. I look enough like my counterpart to pass, if somewhat taller, by more than one account on my way through this Base Camp. I am not your friend but I am not willing to die again, hence this ridiculous," he inhaled and spat out with distain, " _charade_. I suspect you've been brought in to tell me who I need to treat with respect and who I interact with on a daily or semi-weekly basis." 

"Okay, _that_ has got to go." Genesis huffed. "Seph's _nice_. He's got half of the SOLDIER Corps wrapped around his fingers because he's a little too nice sometimes. He'll make some dry quips and stuff but nothing like what you're doing, for one." 

"You're going to have to slouch. I know that Mr. Valentine said that Seph's supposed to be as tall as you but not until he hits sixteen. Do you even remember what it's like to be sixteen?" Angeal pointed out even as Sephiroth paced the length of the tent. "Ms. Ifalna said something-" 

He couldn't help the way his scent turned bitter, nor for the quiet way he spoke, "Ifalna? She left me to—" Die. She'd died trying to escape with— _little-girl-green-eyes-tiny-pink_ — " ** _Aeris._** " 

"Seph?" Angeal looked at him and Sephiroth halted mid-stride, his knees giving way as they hadn't since he was twelve. "Seph!" 

"I killed her." 

"Ooookay, time to get Mr. Valentine..." Genesis muttered as he bolted from the tent, leaving Angeal alone with him. 

"I should have killed Hojo." 

Angeal cautiously reached forward and Sephiroth felt a hand gently pet him. 

"Why did I listen to Mother?" 

"She lied to you," came the response from his enemy as he was cradled against a firm chest. "JENOVA's good at that, by the way, practiced it enough on your real Mother." 

"My real...?" Sephiroth questioned before he allowed oblivion to embrace him.

* * *

He shot up, the drape of crimson unfamiliar for only a moment before the situation reasserted itself fully upon his consciousness. Sephiroth had three epiphanies in succession, each more horrible than the last. 

He had a Mother. 

One that was _not_ JENOVA. 

JENOVA was a liar and a masterful manipulator; if she had lied about the blood they shared, what else was she lying about? 

He'd lost himself to _Her_ , had done something to his only friend—

Perhaps Strife and his team of outcasts were the only ones willing to put him down time and again. 

ShinRa wouldn't bother, considering the younger was still alive last he saw through the construct JENOVA had called to life. 

Kadaj, he thought, had been more blinded by _Her_ than the rest; blinded as he had once been blinded. 

He would need to speak to Valentine.

* * *

Sephiroth slouched, making his way to the Strife tent before he was cut off by a Commander in a black First Class uniform. 

"I heard about your retrograde amnesia, Strife-Valentine." He almost reached for Masamune but the fierce Strife gaze made him keep it hidden. "Lt. Colonel Henderson, kid."

"... I see." 

"We spar together for your assessments and for fun normally. Your old man said you could still fight, it's just people you don't recognize." Henderson offered at Sephiroth's wary expression. 

"Yes, fighting is something I know well, Lt. Colonel-" 

"There you are, son. I see you've re-met Lt. Colonel Henderson." 

"Care for a friendly spar, then? See how much you remember." 

JENOVA flared then, her shriek of incandescent rage sending Sephiroth to one knee for the second time in so many hours. 

"As you can see, still recovering. Those Wutainese soldiers hit him harder than we thought, Henderson. If you'll excuse my son and I?" 

The drape of fabric still clutched in his hand was gently removed and tossed over his shoulders, Valentine simply picking him up as though he were a small child. 

"JENOVA?" Valentine asked after tapping the tent frame three times, once for Silence, once for Libra and once for a low-level Cura. 

"She is... angry and... lashing out. She knows I am here. She knows that I cannot help _Her_ from this distance with the Cetra suppressing her." Sephiroth shoulders eased out of the pained hunch they'd been in, fiddling with the rich, vibrant cloth surrounding him. "It infuriates her so." 

"Cetra?" 

"Ifalna... and Aeris... Another presence, though she is also faint." 

"Your Mother, Lucrecia." 

"My Mother cannot be Cetra. Hojo would have known." 

"Lucrecia was mostly human, though the blood ran true in her son." 

"Your son." Sephiroth tried to wrap his mind around the fact that one of his enemies might be his own flesh and blood. 

"I am not sure if I am your father in your place. I know my son is mine because of a 98% blood match. There is nothing of that sort here and it would be rather tedious to have it done without catching attention." Valentine murmured. "Though, if I know my own past, I was involved with your Mother at some point. There is only a possibility." 

"If it keeps me from claiming Hojo and JENOVA, I would take you and my Mother in their place." He stated, the abnormal warmth the cloak gave off most comforting. 

"Anika will be here shortly. Henderson would have told her by now of your collapse." 

It struck him then, as it had struck him at Nibelheim years before, that everyone around him had had a fairly normal childhood. That others had a support network that never failed them in times of crisis. 

That his counterpart here was lucky enough to have more than one parental figure, judging by the concern Henderson's scent had released.

A choice where he had none. 

"Henderson said-Sephiroth?" 

"My counterpart has a _choice_." He explained bitterly when he wanted to raze everything around him to the ground for the rage he felt anew. "A choice I was not given. I hope he uses it wisely; that he does not lose what I have already lost." 

"And what is that?" Strife's Mother softened at that, her hands small in his but still stronger. 

"Everything."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, complain, ect.


	5. Of The Once and (Only) Future Hurts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting some Answers this chapter and meeting the more explosive members of AVALANCHE. 
> 
> Enjoy~

* * *

Sephiroth awoke to shouting. 

The scent of flowers told him that he was at Ifalna's church, the yellow-n-white lilies swaying in the wind from the enormous hole in the ceiling. 

He turned his head at the lap of water and blinked in surprise at the sight of a large sword in a cradle mechanism behind a decent-sized pond. 

Sephiroth glanced towards the source, the shouting growing coherent as he regained his senses. 

«You brought him here?! To Her church?!?» The near shriek of rage came from a woman nearly Cloud's height with dark, flowing hair that had been hastily tied back with a pink ribbon. 

A ribbon that hurt more now that he knew what had happened here. 

"That's not _Him_." Cloud blocked the entrance, broad shoulders straight and defensive.

« _He killed everyone we love and you're **defending him?**_ » The sorrow beneath her words struck him, a tiny mountain town razed to ash coming to him in pieces. It was as though the LifeStream was apologizing for overwhelming him. «Get. Out. Of. My. Way. Cloud.»

Cloud growled, gently gripped her shoulders and said slowly, «It. Is. Not. Him. This one speaks Nibel, has me for a little brother and he has a Mom. _He's not from here_. He hasn't done anything yet. He's **fifteen** , Tifa.» 

Sephiroth sat up, brushing the dust from his hair out of habit, patting for his transforming comb, the one that had a hidden blade on it. He found it with a noise of triumph and started pulling maintenance on his long hair. By the time he was done clearing out the dirt and pulling it into a bun held with his hairstick, 'Tifa' had lunged no less than eight times for him. 

«Cloud,» he sighed, «let her go.» 

Cloud, arms full of wrathful Nibel woman, looked at him like he was like his counterpart; gods-crazed and with a complex. 

«She's going to attack me; might as well let her do it here.» Sephiroth pointed out with a shrug as he carefully stepped around the flowers. He stretched, cracked his knuckles and then settled himself with a stance his Chichiue had taught him. 

Cloud released Tifa and Sephiroth braced for a strike that never made it to him. He cracked open an eye when he heard a muffled Nibel obscenity. Her fist had stopped barely a centimeter from his nose, locked in place by a very familiar green. 

The LifeStream was _defending_ him. 

"I _did_ warn you, Tifa. He's not the Sephiroth you remember because he's not **our** Sephiroth. Spell it out?" Cloud sighed as he shook his head. 

"Captain Strife-Valentine, formerly stationed in Fort Yumi, Wutai. My Mother is Anika Strife, my Chichiue is Vincent Valentine and my little brother is Cloud Strife. Mom killed Hojo with a cast iron frying pan just shy of my eleventh birthday for trying to 'disappear' with my little brother before he was my little brother." 

Cloud made a 'go on' motion so he inhaled and recited, "Aerith is my first cousin through blood; she and I are the last of the Cetra aside from our Moms, Ifalna Faramis née Crescent and Lucrecia Crecent-Valentine. Grandma Lily told me this before I shipped for Wutai last month. Captain Highwind is my adoptive Uncle." 

The anger slid from Tifa like water. "... Cloud said you spoke Nibel." 

«I do but figured you were already mad at me. I didn't want to make it worse.» Sephiroth countered dryly, motioning at her caught fist. "Please let Ms. Tifa go. I can defend myself if I have to, you know." Sephiroth told the 'Stream. 

It released Tifa as he neatly side-stepped her falling forward from the follow-through of her punch. 

"You're... shorter." She murmured. "Are they feeding you?" 

"Chichiue says I'll get there soon but I only turned fifteen a week ago. I had an MRE while I waited for Director Tuesti but—" 

His stomach made an awful noise and Sephiroth cursed his fair skin as he felt his face get hot. 

"That's a no because he got here less than an hour—Tifa?" 

"You're not my enemy, you're a kid. Therefore you get fed." He couldn't help the faint laugh that escaped him. "What?" 

"You sound like my Mom." 

"We can't take him to Seventh Heaven." Cloud countered. "Not like that." 

"Cid!" Captain Highwind nearly yelped when Tifa turned on him. "Do you have a spare hoodie?" 

"Yeah, hold on." Captain Highwind returned with a stained hoodie that was over-sized but perfect to hide Seph in. "Smudge some dirt on yer face and you won't look a thing like your... pal." 

"I prefer counterpart, Captain, but 'pal' will have to do." He chewed at his lip, dug around for the gag gift he'd intended to give to Genesis and showed it. "I have this?" 

The spray-on color was supposed to be dark brown but it would make him look different enough. He felt sorry for this Valentine because combined with his hair color, it turned the exact shade of his Mother's. 

"Save it for later," The Captain countered immediately as he glanced over his shoulder at the man who was his Chichiue but not. "Dirt's good enough if you don't mind bein' dirty, Ah think." 

"Of course." He tucked away the spray, smeared some mud on his face and hair in strategic places and then snorted when the crew blinked at him. "I... visit Aerith on my days off and sometimes I'm a little too recognizable." 

Cloud was the first to shrug it off and offer a hand up. Sephiroth held it and then made to let go when Cloud squeezed in reassurance. "Well, it's not the first time AVALANCHE has brought home a stray."

* * *

He polished off nearly everything set in front of him after he'd washed up, poking at the lone broccoli with his fork as Cloud only shook his head at their shock. "Appetite of a SOLDIER First Class, huh?" 

"I'm still a Second, actually, but my enhancements go past it." 

"... Ah feel like Ah'm gonna regret askin' this but—" 

"How am I still a Second? My parents don't want me in the War, did everything in their, admittedly, impressive range to prevent my promotion for four years running with help from my superior officers. I've yet to purposely hurt someone in defense of myself. But... I understand that not everyone has my best interests at heart, ShinRa among them." He sighed as he ate the broccoli anyway. 

"It sounds... as though they are upfront." Valentine murmured. 

"No point in lying when my orders are handed to them personally." Sephiroth peeled off his glove and turned his right palm to face them. "Hojo did a lot to me, before Mom got to him. I know that people suck." 

Tifa's lips thinned at that, most of AVALANCHE following suit. "How much...?" 

"From the time I was five until before my eleventh birthday. I have scars in places that most people would never think to look. I was supposed to be pretty enough to look at for photos, so nothing... visible with the SOLDIER uniform." He added dryly as he turned his hand around to show the other side. "I can't use this hand too much. Hojo cut down to the bone and through the median nerve; it never quite healed right. Before you ask, I've had a _lot_ of therapy." 

"Sure as hell sounds like it," Captain Highwind snorted. 

"How do we get you home?" Nanaki asked from his chair. 

"I... don't know." He prodded the LifeStream, not expecting an answer. He got his answer in the form of familiar eyes, which were violet instead of Mako blue, that gave him a cheeky wink. "You too? Are there any of my friends that haven't been lost to the ravages of my counterpart?" 

The silence was deafening in its own right but the 'Stream offered up Kunsel at a place that looked like it was near the Golden Hunter's Lodge. 

"That doesn't help." 

Zack-but-not gave the equivalent of a shrug. _Sorry little buddy._

"You can," he cleared his throat around the lump in it, "apparently thank Zack... for my arrival." 

Cloud huffed and scraped back his spikes. "He never did take no for an answer unless you really meant it. Trying to teach me a lesson, Zack?" 

"Not you," Sephiroth translated as Zack switched to SOLDIER hand signs. "but my counterpart. They're tired of him getting in and out of the-No, I'm not saying that." 

Zack pouted in true puppy fashion and Sephiroth sighed. 

"They're tired of him getting in and out of the 'Stream like it's a bathtub." 

AVALANCHE snickered before outright laughing. 

"So either he needs to sort his issues to rest or he needs to stay out here and sort them that way. I'm... Really, Zack? I'm the least threatening version he could find on short notice. Plus he saw the Frying Pan 'O Doom." 

"It's really called...?" 

"You can thank **Reno** for _that_." He drawled.

* * *

He sat on the couch, cheek pillowed in his hand as he listened to this Zack tell stories. 

Sephiroth yelped as 'Stream Zack lifted him out of the way of an enormous Shuriken and a scream in Wutainese which, upon further listening, amounted to a shriek of «WHY WON'T YOU **STAY DEAD** , SILVER DEMON?!»

He spun to avoid a kunai to his stomach, throwing his daggers to pin his assailant to the wall with their clothes. "Zack, a _warning_ would've been nice—Oh Holy Gaia." 

The gun arm pointed straight at his face had him raising his hands in surrender. 

"Cloud-" 

"Oh, for—Barret, put it down!" Tifa commanded, kicking up the gun and rescuing Sephiroth from its range. 

"He's a _child_ ," Nanaki chided even as a cold nose pressed against his gloved palm. "and not our enemy." 

"Huh?" 

"How could you say—Oh." The Wutainese ninja shouted before she looked at her clothing and then back to Sephiroth from his spot behind Tifa. "Who is he then?" 

"If ya calmed down, brat, maybe we can explain." Captain Highwind drawled as he freed her from Sephiroth's daggers. "Here, kid." He tucked them away as the Captain introduced them. "This one is Yuffie Kisaragi and that's Barret Wallace—" 

"... What is Her Imperial Highness doing with a group of Eco-terrorists?" He blurted before he clapped his hands over his mouth. 

"That's _definitely_ not the Silver Demon. Also, how do you know my title?" Her Imperial Majesty sniffed before she blinked at his use of her Wutainese title. 

"... Long story, Your Highness." 

"Yuffie. Say it with me now, Yuffieee." 

"... Long story, Yuffie?" 

"There we go! Now, who's explaining?"

* * *

Sephiroth was relegated to the upstairs and a Silence IV put on his door as AVALANCHE talked amongst themselves. 

By the time Sephiroth had finished his third fishtail, the door creaked open to reveal two people his Cloud's age or close enough to it. 

"Hi." 

The adult chatter was still muffled so he assumed that they had a Silence up as well. 

"Hello." 

"... Are you really Sephiroth?" 

"Sorta. I'm a little far from home." He sighed as he detangled all of the braids and watched as the waves fell out. "I miss my Mom." 

"... Me too." 

"I don't remember mine." The girl said and then giggled. "My name's Marlene." 

"I'm Denzel." 

"I guess you can call me Seph." He gave both of them a tentative smile that they returned and then leaned in conspiratorially. "You want to see something cool?" 

"Sure." Denzel murmured as Marlene perched on the end of the bed, brown eyes riveted as Sephiroth pulled out his favorite throwing knife and started flipping it. 

"Mom says that balisongs are better. Left mine in my tent though," he grumbled, "the one back home. Other me better not touch it." 

"Why is your hair grey? Are you like them?" A flicker-flash of three people who felt _Wrong_ though the silver hair was much like his own. 

"I'm not sure. The LifeStream says no but..." Sephiroth swept his hair over his shoulder and fiddled with it after he sheathed his knife. "It's the same color. They might be related to other me." 

"You can talk to the LifeStream? Like Aerith?" 

"... Yeah, like Aerith, like Ms. Ifalna and my Mother." 

"'Mother?'" Denzel questioned sharply. 

More brushes of the silver trio, Mother used for something the LifeStream labeled only J—, the rest of the name lost as it left the Vice President's lips in a taunt. 

"Yes." He pulled out a real photo of his Mother, the white edges foxed and tearing in places. "That's her. Mom's my adopted Mom." 

"... Like me and Tifa," Denzel said with a nod. "I got it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, complain, ect.


End file.
